iSwitch
by xLove-Hate-Relationshipx
Summary: Freddie's cloning science project combined with a careless, meatloaf-eating Sam, equals trouble all the way around.
1. Disclaimer

DISCLAIMER: All characters and settings referring to iCarly belong to Dan Schneider (the writer). Only the plot belongs to me.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter: 1

**Words: 698**

"Freddie Benson."

As the science teacher called the tech-savvy teenager to the front of the room, he grabbed a hold of the handle on his project. Wheeling a large contraption to the front of the room, he started to speak.

"This is a low-tech cloning device. Yes, you've heard correctly. I said _cloning_."

Many "oohs" and "ahs" sounded at this statement. He continued, "Attached to each side of the device is a bed. This allows the clonee comfort, while letting the replica land safely on the other side."

He picked up an apple. "This, my friends, is an ordinary apple. Just let me place it here, flip the on switch, and- who wants an apple?"

Several students and the teacher raised their hands. "Unfortunately, quantity requires some math," groans from all the kids were heard when he spoke these words, "as I was unable to create a binary converter, so we must translate the numbers we use to binary. So, six replicas would equal 1, 1, 0. I'll just type that in, press enter, and…"

Six identical red apples fell one by one from the other side of the machine. "Walla." He tossed the apples to the people who asked for them originally.

Samantha Puckett spoke up, taking a bite of her apple. "How do we know you really cloned it?"

Freddie rolled his eyes, "Hand me your pen, Sam."

She tossed it to him at the front of the room. He placed it on the left bed, turned it on, typed in the quantity 1, and hit enter. Everyone awed as he picked up the identical replica of the pen. "One for you, Sam," he tossed her the original pen, "and one for me."

"Great job, Freddie," the teacher fawned, "A+ for you!"

"Samantha Puckett, your turn."

She walked to the front of the room, with two apples in hand. "When you take a bite of an apple, it turns brown, because there's iron in it and it reacts with the oxygen." She took a bite of the first apple, and then waited. "See?"

"Better than usual, Samantha. C."

She smiled to herself and sat down.

"And, last but not least, Carly Shae."

She wheeled a cart containing three plants to the front of the room. One was perfectly healthy, the other was wilted and dead, and the last was healthy, but barely grown at all.

"I planted each of these sunflower seeds at the same time. Each plant received the same amount of sunlight, the same amount of air, and were planted in the same soil."

She gestured to the first plant, which was perfectly healthy. "Plant A received half a cup of pure spring water daily." She pointed to the second, dead plant. "Plant B received half a cup of Pepsi-Cola daily." She then picked up the last, tiny plant. "Plant C received a quarter cup of orange juice and a quarter cup of milk daily."

"Gardeners are always curious about why plants need _water_. I've proved it. Plant A is the perfect example. The water provided it with all the nutrients it needed. Plant B's soda provided it with some nutrients for a short time and eventually they were all gone. That would be why this plant died. And Plant C received enough nutrients for it to be alive, but not enough for it to grow like Plant A. So, gardeners, water is always the right thing to give your plant."

"Wonderful, Carly. A for you as well."

---

"Why did I get a C on my science project, Carly?" Sam asked as she stepped into the Carly and Spencer's apartment after school that day.

"I don't know, Sam. But you actually did some research. I'm proud of you."

"Yeah, yeah. Got any meatloaf?"

"Check the fridge."

"Kay."

After moments of searching, Sam walked into the iCarly studio, carrying a plate of meatloaf, where Freddie and Carly were talking about his project. Sam plopped down on the left bed carelessly.

"SAM- NO!!!"

Freddie screamed and lunged to hit the off button, landing with a thud on the edge of the bed with Sam, and missing the button by mere inches.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter: 2

**Word Count: 509**

**A/N: Sorry it's so short, but this chapter needed to happen in order for the rest of the story to be right.**

_Previously: __Freddie screamed and lunged to hit the off button, landing with a thud on the edge of the bed with Sam, and missing the button by mere inches._

Carly watched, in shock and awe, too stunned to move for the off button, as a whirl of light flashed in the space between Freddie's project and herself. An array of neon colors flashed before the machine finally wore itself out, the ultimate result a cloud of smoke.

Coughing, Carly waited for Sam and Freddie to emerge from the smoke, expecting them every minute, second, millisecond.

After almost ten minutes of waiting, Carly began to get worried. _What if the machine smoked them out too?_ She thought. _What would I do then? How would I explain to Spencer? The police? They wouldn't believe me if I told them that Freddie's cloning device, his science project, did it, would they?_

After another five minutes, Carly decided she had two choices. One was to get help: either Spencer or the police. The other was to go in and look for them. That was the most dangerous, yet most efficient way of looking for her best friends, she decided.

Although she knew that she would jump off a cliff after Sam and Freddie, and that they'd do the same for her, she chose to interrupt Spencer's latest art project with the news that her friends were there one minute, and absorbed into a cloud of smoke the next.

She ran down the stairs to find her older brother sculpting a sock from cake. Curiously, she asked, "_What_ are you doing?"

"Sculpting a sock out of cake," was Spencer's cheeky answer.

"Don't you sass me."

"Why not?"

Ignoring this, Carly inquired, "Why are you sculpting a sock out of cake?"

"It's Socko's birthday tomorrow!"

"Okay then. Well, Spencer. I need your help."

"What's up, little sis?"

"SAM AND FREDDIE ARE MISSING!"

"Alright, wait. Hold on here. What happened?"

"Well, Sam and her meatloaf, and she sat on Freddie's cloning project, and then Freddie landed on the side with her, and then it went all smoky and they haven't come out for like fifteen minutes now!"

"Okay. Show me where they are."

Carly led her clueless older brother into the iCarly studio, where her friends disappeared.

"They're in here."

Spencer pointed to the still-smoking device. "Over there?"

"Yep."

"Well then, good luck with that." He turned to leave for the door.

"Spencer," Carly spoke as she caught a firm grip on his arm, "I need you to help them."

"Fair enough."

Carly chewed on her fingernails while Spencer dramatically dove into the pit of smoke. A few minutes passed, and Carly was beginning to get worried. Suddenly, her older sibling called, "Carly, come in here! It's safe!"

Trusting Spencer's words, Carly dove into the smoke, only to be stunned again by the appearance of her friends' unconscious bodies.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter: 3

**Word Count: 568**

**A/N: Sorry it's been so long, guys! Here's chapter three, and in case you were wondering, I do not know when chapter four is going to be out. Sorry!! Hopefully, soon, but with how busy everything's been, I doubt it. Apology offered.**

_Previously: Trusting Spencer's words, Carly dove into the smoke, only to be stunned again by the appearance of her friends' unconscious bodies. _

Sam lay in an uncomfortable position on top of Freddie, her head resting against his knee, and her feet on his face; despite her arrangement, she seemed oddly relaxed.

Freddie, on the other hand, was clutching Sam's legs for dear life, terror spread across his features.

Both of the teenager's clothes were covered in dust, their hair askew, and their eyes closed. Carly grabbed a hold of Sam's shoulder and shook it gently. Finding this didn't work, she shook it harder.

Mumbling under her breath, she grabbed hold of Freddie's shoulder and shook him awake. In a dazed voice, he said, "Where am I?"

"You're in the iCarly studio, Freddie."

"Why is Sam on top of me?" he asked, releasing his hold on said girl's legs. "Wait a second. Why does my voice sound weird? Why do I sound like Freddie? Why did you call me Freddie? Carls, what's going on here?!"

"Freddie? What's wrong?"

"Get me a mirror."

Spencer climbed out of the cloud of smoke, which was starting to float away, and went into the closet, a floor length mirror in his hands.

Sam climbed out of the smoke as well, followed by Carly. She walked over to where Spencer had buttressed the mirror by the door and let out an ear splitting scream.

"Freddie, what on earth is wrong?"

"I-I-I'm not Freddie. I'm Sam. In Freddie's body. Oh my gosh. Help me!"

Carly turned to Spencer. "Wake up Freddie. And get us a fan. This smoke is really bothering me."

"I think it smells like fried chicken."

"Freddie?"

"I'm _Sam_. I already told you that. I look like ugly Freddie, but I'm really _Sam_."

"Tell me what we did Saturday afternoon."

"We went to Build-A-Bra. And I got one with the new blinking straps. And you got one with the extra comfort-"

"Ugh, I don't need to hear that."

"Freddie?" screamed the girls simultaneously.

"Yeah, um, what exactly am I doing in Sam's body?" he asked as he examined himself in the mirror.

"Good question."

"Well, what happened before this?"

"I was eating meatloaf and then we ended up getting attacked by _your_ stupid science project."

"It wasn't stupid when you were hungry in science class!"

"It _was_ stupid, I was just hungry and asked for an apple. You never asked if anyone wanted a cloned apple."

"That made absolutely no sense at all, Sam. Or should I say _Freddie_."

"Well, _Sam_, you're an idiot."

"Why?"

"If it wasn't for your 'brilliant' project, we wouldn't be stuck in this mess."

"If it weren't for your carelessness, we wouldn't be stuck in this mess."

"If it weren't-"

"Guys!"

"-for you leaving -"

"_Guys_!"

"-the stupid thing on-"

Carly retrieved a bullhorn from the closet, where Spencer was detaching feathers from a fan.

"_**GUYS**_!"

"What?"

"There's a tiny problem here. Sam's a girl. And Freddie's a boy. And you're in each other's bodies."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

And for yet another time that day, ear splitting shrieks filled the room.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter: 4

**Word Count: 518**

**A/N: Wow! Almost a year since I've updated! Sorry about that…well anyway, here it goes!**

_Previously: And for yet another time that day, ear splitting shrieks filled the room._

"Alright, alright. Calm down, guys," said Carly, attempting to hide her panic-stricken voice.

"How am I supposed to calm down?" screamed Sam, "I'm a _boy_!"

"No, Sam, you're just in a boy's body."

"Not helping!"

Spencer sneaked out of the room to both give the kids some privacy and to avoid mental scarring.

"Okay, okay, I have an idea," said Carly.

"Well, get it out," said Freddy.

"How about, we all get a week's worth of clothes and stuff from our rooms, and then we meet back here in one hour, and we'll just spend the night at my house."

"How am I going to get my mom to agree to that?" asked Freddy.

"Simple. I'll have Spencer arrange for her to go away for the week. That should give you plenty of time to come up with a solution."

The kids went their separate ways and did as they were told; while Carly fetched the one of the round-trip tickets she had to New York City (she'd been there many times before).

She headed downstairs to where her brother was putting the sock cake in the freezer.

"Hey, Spencer?"

"Yeah, what's up?" he answered as he maneuvered the cake around the boxes of frozen vegetables and ice cream.

"I need you to convince Freddy's mom to take this ticket and go to New York City for the week."

"Why?"

"So that Freddy can figure out a way to fix this mess."

"Oh, and where exactly are you all planning on staying while she's gone?"

"The scene of the accident; the iCarly studio."

"Alright."

Spencer went over to knock on Mrs. Benson's door.

"Yes?" she called.

"Mrs. Benson, I want you to take this."

She read the ticket, "Oh, no, I couldn't."

"Oh, c'mon. Freddy can stay with us. The ticket is round-trip. Don't you think you need a bit of a break?"

"Well…"

Spencer guessed she was close to snapping. "There are a lot of great shopping boutiques and…and health food shops and stuff there."

"Oh, alright. I'll leave tonight."

Spencer silently cheered and made his way up to the iCarly studio where Sam, Freddy, and Carly had returned.

"She's leaving tonight," he announced proudly.

"Great," said Carly.

Spencer left again, fearing the switched-up teenagers more than ever.

Sam spoke in her new deep voice, "How are we going to take showers?"

"Bathing suits?" suggested Freddy.

"Oh- good idea."

"And how are we going to get dressed?"

"We can blindfold each other and then like dress our own bodies."

"Odd."

"It'd work though."

"And what about in school?"

"How about we don't go?"

"And get our work sent home to us?"

"Yes."

"…If we have to."

That Monday evening, they all slept in the beanbag chairs in the iCarly studio, wondering when this would right itself, _if_ it would right itself, and how exactly there plan was going to work before next Monday.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter: 5

Word Count: 586

Previously: That Monday evening, they all slept in the beanbag chairs in the iCarly studio, wondering when this would right itself, if it would right itself, and how exactly their plan was going to work before next Monday.

Sam and Freddy woke up the next day disoriented and feeling strange. The rush of memories from yesterday came flooding back to them, and they both groaned inwardly. Sam's thoughts were focused on trying to determine how long they'd have to stay like this. Freddy was spending every second trying to right this mess that they'd created.

Carly was already awake, dressed, and ready to go, and walked through the doors of the studio with a bright smile on her face- the first smile she'd had in twenty-four hours.

"I just talked to Spencer," she said, "and he said that we were allowed to stay home until we fixed this, or until your mom comes home, Freddy, whichever happens first."

"Great," said Sam, "I finally get a week off of school and I can't enjoy it."

"Stop your complaining," snapped Freddy, "I don't like this any more than you do, but at least I'm trying to fix it."

"I _would_ try to fix it, except I don't know _how_."

"Neither do I, but I'm trying to figure that out."

Freddy went back to tapping away at his laptop and Sam leaned back in her beanbag chair.

"Sam?" asked Carly, "Do you feel like taking a shower now?"

Freddy's body grimaced, but nodded.

"Then I need you to put this on." She handed her best friend a blindfold.

Freddy dressed his body in swim trunks and took off the blindfold.

Carly walked Sam up to the shower and ushered her in.

"Just because I'm not me doesn't mean that I don't know how to take a shower anymore," she said.

Carly left and went downstairs to get Freddy and their clothes.

The day went by as if nothing unusual had happened, and Freddy made no progress on a cure.

"It seems like this is the first time in history that this has ever happened," he said, "I researched for all other possible cases, and only one showed up- between a domestic cat and a domestic dog."

"What did you find?" asked Carly.

"Just that eventually the dog stopped acting like the cat, and the cat stopped acting like a dog, and everything went back to normal."

"So, what does that mean?" asked Sam, worry layering her tone.

"It basically means that either the cat and dog never switched back and just found a way to deal with their situation," at this, they all shuddered, "they did switch back and no one has a record of how, or eventually the dog's presence in the cat's body became permanent and turned into the cat itself, and vice versa for the cat's presence in the dog."

"Huh?" asked Sam.

"The cat turned into the dog, and the dog turned into the cat."

She screamed.

The next morning, they woke up, finally getting used to their daily routine as Sam-in-Freddy's-body and Freddy-in-Sam's-body.

Something seemed different for them both, though. Sam had a weird desire to go do homework or research, and Freddy had an odd craving for fried chicken. They both ignored it, figuring that they were just getting too comfortable in each other's bodies.

Little did they know that when these odd sensations continued throughout the day, that it meant that they were closer to finding a cure.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter: 6

Word Count: 799

Previously: Little did they know that when these odd sensations continued throughout the day, that it meant that they were closer to finding a cure.

When they all got hungry that afternoon, Freddy started downstairs alongside Sam to get some lunch. Instead of his usual pizza, though, he found that he joined his friend in a mini buffet of prime barbecued ribs, KFC extra crispy drumsticks, spring rolls from Sushi Masters, cheddar and sour cream potato chips, cheese doodles, and Pepsi-Cola. He found all of this surprisingly mouthwatering, while Sam just picked at a few chips and nibbled at a few spring rolls, practically ignoring the variety of food that, under normal circumstances, she would have gobbled down in a matter of minutes.

This, however, was absolutely, positively _not_ normal circumstances. And both of them knew it. Sam was feeling strange emotions: the odd urge to help people, losing her violent attitude and her quirky appetite, an opposition to being lazy (she had taken to running around the block a few times with Carly after breakfast), even developing feelings for Carly that went _way_ beyond what two friends should have. And she was freaked out- scared even. But despite her newly formed odd-for-her behavioral traits, she still seemed like Sam to Freddy and Carly, and she was determined to keep it that way. Keeping this a secret was the most important thing that she needed to do at the moment, besides switching back with Freddy, which didn't look promising right now, and she set out to make sure that no one knew that she was feeling, well, like Freddy.

Freddy, on the other hand, was overcome by new behaviors too: a knack for violence, a larger, crazier appetite, wanting to sit and lay around, not being able to recall the answer to question number seventeen on last chapter's math test, feeling like the research for the cure was hopeless, and he even took a nap mid-morning that day. He noticed that they had come on quite strong, as just this morning the only thing unusual the he felt was a craving for fried chicken, which- hey- could have most definitely have been legitimately his. His mother deprived him of it anyways. However, he knew that Sam and Carly could never know anything about what was going on with him, and wanted to keep it that way. He hoped desperately that he would be able to keep his new emotions under wraps- for the time being, anyway. He didn't want to admit to himself that he was feeling quite Sam-like, nonetheless the devil herself.

"Freddy?" asked Carly.

"Hmm?"

"Are you like _really_ hungry today or what?"

"Uh…"

_Shoot!_ He thought, desperately searching for an excuse.

"Yes, actually. I think Sam's body just needs an excess of food," he replied smoothly. Well, not smoothly at all, but he saved his butt there; that was a close one.

"Well your body must need an excess of exercise and research or something," mumbled Sam, so quietly that Freddy and Carly could just make out the words by a few distinct letter sounds and the motions of her lips.

"You feel different too?" Freddy blurted out without thinking. _So much for keeping secrets_, he thought. He had always been bad at that.

"Um, what?"

_Oh, gosh, what if she doesn't feel different? What if the switch is just going to my head and the emotion-changes are actually just brought on by my mind? What if she thinks I'm going insane now? She already thinks you're insane, stupid! When did I get so paranoid? Or maybe the better question is, when did I start caring what Sam thinks about me?_ _Maybe I really am going insane. I better bring this up with the therapist when I go next-_

"Freddy?" said Sam in a meek tone that neither Carly nor Freddy had never heard on her before.

"Huh?"

"I _do_ feel different."

"Different like?"

"Like I feel like…" She droned off.

"Like you," they both finished.

"Well," said Carly, "how long were you planning on keeping that hidden? I mean, for all I know you guys could've ended up like that cat and that dog, stuck in each other's bodies until the end of their lives, every day losing a piece of themselves so a piece of their host can fit in…"

She paused dramatically, leaving her speech off like a narrator for a movie preview. Everyone laughed.

"But seriously, guys, when were you going to admit this?" asked Carly.

"I don't know," said Sam.

"Me neither," said Freddy.

"Why not?" asked Carly.

"I guess we were…I was…we-" Sam stumbled over her words, unsure of what to say.

"_We_ were embarrassed," said Freddy.

"Ah," replied Carly.

"So, what can you do with this new information?" asked Sam.

"You mean, what can _we_ do with this new information," replied Freddy, dragging Sam over to the computer and hacking away at the keys.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter: 7

**Word Count: 1, 041**

_Previously: "You mean, what can _we_ do with this new information," replied Freddy, dragging Sam over to the computer and hacking away at the keys._

Freddy and Sam stayed awake until late at night (or early the next morning, however you choose to refer to it as) researching everything about the suspiciously familiar cat and dog story. It had now been three days since the accident, and the only thing that they had discovered was that they were starting to feel more and more like each other and less and less like themselves.

They researched for the owners of the cat and dog, and found that both the couple and their two children were impossible to get in contact with. The mother and father had both passed six years ago of old age. Two years after that, the older son went missing, and the younger daughter never returned from her vacation in Japan just last year.

"Well," said Sam, "I guess we'd better get used to this whole gender-switch thing, because it doesn't seem likely that we're going to switch back in enough time to salvage any part of ourselves."

"Seriously," said Freddy, "The only thing we have on the family that owned the pets was that all of them are impossible to talk to, and that the oldest son was a 'psychic.'" He said "psychic" the way he'd say, "Look at the flying pigs in the sky!"

"_What_ did you just say?" asked Sam, almost certain that she heard him correctly but wanting to double check in case the switch (as they decidedly were now referring to it as) was messing with her hearing too.

"I _said_ that this guy was supposed to be psychic. You don't actually believe in that stuff, do you?"

"No, but it's worth looking into, isn't it?"

"I guess." Freddy scooted his chair over to let Sam hack away at the keyboard.

"What'd you say that kid's name was again?"

"Uh…" Freddy shuffled through his notebook, where he'd been recording the little bit of information that they'd found, "Derek Greenwald."

Sam typed "Derek Greenwald" into the search engine box and waited for the results, tapping her fingers on the desk impatiently.

When the results finally came up, she was shocked. "Derek Greenwald" had only come up with 38 results- probably a record for the least amount of results in Inquire history. Every result had the word "psychic" somewhere in the link title, and she looked at Freddy. His expression told her to keep going; he was getting impatient and bored.

She clicked on the first link and was shocked. There was a picture of him and a biography, on what looked like a school website. The school was called Oakwood Heights School for the Young Gifted. It talked about how many of the teachers had seen Derek predicting things, such as the next question that they would be asking, when the test would be, what the new student's name would be, and even the exact time- down to the second- of when the fire alarm would go off for the drill. This was when the staff had him transferred to their sister school, Carton Lake School of Psychic Trade.

Sam clicked out of the window when she saw Freddy lift his pencil from the pages of his notebook. She clicked on the next link down, another school website- this time for the second school he attended, Carton Lake. She saw that he was an honors student for his six years there, graduated as the valedictorian of his class, and then went on to enroll in Penn's College of Supernatural and Foretelling Psychic Skills. Upon his graduation, he received a job offer to teach at Carton Lake and jumped at it, earning the name of "favorite teacher" and "best of the staff."

Freddy motioned for her to continue down to the third link, one that claimed to have biographies of "famous" psychics. It didn't have any more information than what the school websites had given her, and she clicked out of that one too.

"Seems like this guy was pretty well-known," mused Freddy.

"Yeah, seriously," replied Sam, and selected the next website from the search results list.

This one was a website completely dedicated to Derek Greenwald. It had his family, his biography, interviews with his teachers, forums discussing his greatness, and a ton of other Derek-inspired features. On the left, there was a list of similar fan sites. One caught Freddy's eye and he pointed, urging Sam to click on it. It was called, "The Works of Derek Greenwald."

proved to be quite interesting, and Freddy was taking notes in super-speed. They read notes that he had written to his classmates that displayed the answers to the next test before it was even handed out, poems that predicted things like the swing set on the playground out back collapsing, anonymous letters to the police telling the culprit of the latest crime that were traced back to him, and a whole section of the site that was dedicated to mysterious, miscellaneous works involving his pets.

Sam squeezed Freddy's knee and pointed. They smiled at each other and read into it.

One poem proved that he had, in fact been a witness to the switch. An essay that he had written for a class during his sophomore year of high school said that he had theories about how to switch two people- and switch them back! Freddy could have sworn that he was shaking in his seat at that point.

Unfortunately, the bottom of the essay had been "lost in a flood," and Freddy and Sam had no record of how he supposed he could switch them back.

Without losing hope, Sam clicked on the next poem. It read:

Unguarded and carefree

_Doesn't always work out, you see._

_Watchful and precautious_

_Would be the better choice for the prosperous_

_For simply mindless can cause an exchange_

_Of something precious and rather strange_

_And soon you won't be feeling yourself_

_And your enemy will earn your pelf_

_The only was to change your fate_

_Is to forever rid of the hate_

_All you can feel toward your foe_

_Is the love that upon others you bestow_

Sam looked up at Freddy, scared out of her pants by this point. Freddy looked back at her, the same terror mirrored on his face.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter: 8

**Word Count: 488**

_ Previously: __Sam looked up at Freddy, scared out of her pants by this point. Freddy looked back at her, the same terror mirrored on his face._

Skipping a night of sleep, they climbed out of their chairs at the computer on Thursday morning, greeting Carly with their lack of rest apparent in their voices.

"Did you guys even sleep at _all_ last night?" she asked. It had become obvious to Sam and Freddy over the last few days that she was a morning person.

"No," said Sam and Freddy simultaneously.

Carly giggled, asking, "Did you at least find something?"

"Oh, we found something all right," said Freddy as he handed her his notebook.

They waited while she read it once, then again, and skimmed it another time.

"Oh my gosh," she said, "Oh my gosh!"

"We know," said Sam.

"I don't know _how _you guys found this- I don't _want_ to know- but I think that I'm holding the answer to our problem right here in my hands!"

They rejoiced for a moment, until Sam stopped them.

"What's wrong, Sam?" asked Freddy, "Aren't you glad that we found the solution?"

"I am, I am, it's just…"

"You just wanna stay in Freddy's body forever?" asked Carly.

"No, no. I just…I know we have a lead now, but we have no clue what it means. None of us have any idea about how exactly we switch back."

"We _do_, Sam," said Carly, "We just follow the instructions that the poem gives us."

"But the poem is in code," she replied, "and we don't know exactly what it's telling us to do."

"Good point," said Freddy, "Carly, read it aloud."

_"Unguarded and carefree, doesn't always work out you see. _Maybe it means that you should be more careful."

"Read the next line."

_"Watchful and precautious would be the better choice for the prosperous_."

"Yeah, that's definitely what it means. Go on."

_"For simply mindless can cause an exchange of something precious and rather strange_."

"That would be the switch of personalities," said Sam.

_"And soon you won't be feeling yourself, and your enemy will earn your pelf."_

"What is pelf?" asked Freddy.

"Money, wealth," said Sam.

Carly continued, _"The only way to change your fate is to rid you of the hate_."

"What hate?" asked Freddy.

"No clue," replied Sam.

_"All you can feel toward your foe is the love that upon others you bestow_."

"And how does that have anything to do with a cloning machine?" asked Freddy.

"'Love that upon others.' Maybe that means something about others…the clones…"

They threw around ideas until Sam and Freddy were both asleep, Sam's head on Freddy's shoulder and his hand in hers. When Spencer came home from the art store, he carried them up to the iCarly studio, and Carly stayed hard at work on decoding the poem until she too became tired and decided to go to bed. All of them utterly confused, they slept and awoke late on Friday, prepared to work hard and get back to their normal selves before it was too late.


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter: 9

**Word Count: 967**

___Previously: All of them utterly confused, they slept and awoke late on Friday, prepared to work hard and get back to their normal selves before it was too late._

After Freddy shoveled in a stack of pancakes and a bucketful of fruit, Sam munched on a banana, and Carly dug into a bowl of chocolate Captain Munch, they all sat around the kitchen table and opened cans of Pepsi-Cola. As they read and reread the poem, the only sounds in the air were the fizzing of their carbonated, sugary beverages and the thumping of Sam's foot against the leg of the table.

"Sam, knock it off!" yelled Freddy, clearly aggravated at how she could be making noise instead of concentrating on switching back, and continued, "Do you not understand the severity of this situation? We've been switched for five days now. My mother is coming back on Sunday. If we're not ourselves again, then we can't go to school, which is what we'll have to do if we're still each other when my mom comes back."

"Yes, Fredward, I get it," retorted Sam, "I thump my foot when I'm nervous, or when I'm concentrating, which isn't often, so you've never heard me do it before, and you'll just have to live with this. Even though I'm in your body, I'm still me, and I still have my own quirks."

"Well, Ms. Quirky McQuirk Quirks, you'll just have to excuse the fact that when _I'm _nervous or under pressure, I snap. A lot."

"Well, you'll just have to understand, Mr. Grumpy Grumps-A-Lot, that we've been under pressure and that this pressure won't be lifted _until_ we SWITCH BACK!"

"Guys!" interrupted Carly, "Knock it off!"

Oblivious to her pleading during their own bickering, they continued to fire comebacks and insults until Carly finally took them by their collars and shook them forcefully.

"I have it, guys."

"Have what?" asked Freddy.

"Oh my gosh, Carly! You have it! You have it! Tell me! Tell me! Tell me!" exclaimed Sam.

"Well," started Carly, but she was interrupted.

"Have _what?_" asked Freddy.

"I figured it out! The last stanza, the part we couldn't get."

"Carly! Well what are you waiting for? Out with it! Tell us!"

"You're not going to like it, but here goes."

They looked at her expectantly.

"Alright, so 'the only way to change your fate is to rid yourself of the hate' means that you can't feel hate."

"At all?" asked Sam, concerned.

"I'm getting there," said Carly, "And 'all you can feel toward your foe is the love that upon others you bestow' means that you can't feel hate _towards each other_."

"At all?" asked Sam again.

"This is going to be interesting," said Freddy."

"Indeed," said Carly, "Now, what I want you guys to do is sit here, at the table, and face each other."

They reluctantly did as they were told, mumbling and grumbling at their misfortune.

"Good. Sam, look at Freddy. And Freddy, look at Sam."

They did as they were told, pained looks on their faces.

"Okay. Sam, tell Freddy why you hate him."

"Huh?" she asked.

"Tell him!"

"Why do I have to go first?"

"Because I said so. Now, do you want to switch back or not?"

"Alright, alright," she complied, and began, "Freddy Benson, I hate you because you are a nerdy, self-absorbed, momma's boy." She looked to Carly for approval.

"Sam! Honestly, you have to dislike him for some deeper reason besides him being a momma's boy."

"Okay, okay. You really want the truth?"

"Yes."

"It's not pretty, by any means."

"My best friend being in a guy's body isn't pretty either."

"This is worse."

"Oh well. Get over it and spit it out."

She took a deep breath and began, "I first disliked Freddy Benson when we met him in kindergarten. I was talking to you, Carly, and we were eating lunch. I had PB and J and you had egg salad on rye." She smiled at the memory.

"Sam, I need you to be talking to Freddy," instructed Carly.

"But-"

Seeing her friend's stern glare, Sam turned and faced her "enemy."

"Anyway, as I was saying, I was talking to Carly, and all of a sudden, you came along and started talking about your new computer. My first instinct was 'Ooh, this kid's kind of cute,' and I hated you for making me think that. Over the years, every time I saw you, I hated you for being my first crush, my first 'like,' and, eventually, my first kiss. I wanted the magical princess lifestyle when I was younger, and it never happened because the person I liked- the only one I was ever _really_ interested in- was the biggest nerd in the school, would ruin my reputation, and was also obsessed with my best friend."

Freddy stared in shock. This was the last thing he would have expected to come out of Sam's mouth.

Carly got over her shock first, and instructed Freddy. "Freddy, turn to Sam, speak to her, and tell her why you hate her."

"To be honest, Sam, I came over to talk to you guys because my first reaction about Carly was what you said about me. 'Ooh, I like her.' And you _always _stole her away from me. And when I wanted her to be my first kiss, you took that too. And even though I liked it- I'm not going to lie- it wasn't what _I_ had always wanted. And I guess I was jealous, of you _because _of Carly, and, in the long run, ultimately, of Carly because of _you_."

Sam's eyes bugged out of her head. Had he really just said what she thought he said?

"Okay then," said Carly, "Do you guys feel any different?"

"Nope," they both replied.

"Oh."

And despite their extreme disappointment in Carly's erroneous solution, they went to bed free of the hate that once swarmed in their minds toward each other.


End file.
